Jacobites

The Jacobites were the group of followers dedicated to the restoration of a Roman Catholic King to the Great British thrones. From 1688-1746 a series of risings occurred, in an attempt to restore James II and his subsequent heirs to the throne. Support was greatest in Ireland, Scotland and the North of England and the main years of uprising are remembered as 1715 and 1745. The decline of Jacobitism can be seen from 1747, when Henry IX, the Cardinal King (son of James II, and younger brother of Bonnie Prince Charlie) in financial difficulties after the French Revolution, bequeathed the Stuart Crown jewels to the future George IV. Although he never formally renounced his claim to the throne all Jacobite activities ceased, and on his death the Jacobite claim was passed on to those families excluded by the Act of Settlement, however a Jacobite heir has not made a claim to the throne since 1807.